


My Strange Life (I'll Live It My Way)

by LordBKS302



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Dark, F/M, M/M, Main character is messsed up, Mentions of Suicide, My First Fanfic, i don't know what else to put here lol, it won't always be dark, it'll get dark later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordBKS302/pseuds/LordBKS302
Summary: Zach Parker had a messed up life, but thanks to a generous God, he has a chance to claim a happy ending. He's willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Original Male Character(s), Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 17
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, still can't believe I'm doing this. I'm pretty nervous to be honest, but I figured if I want to improve my writing I should post some chapters on here. I've recently gotten into Stranger Things (about 6 months ago lol). Also recently I've been going through a lot of stress and found that writing helps me. I decided to start posting some chapters not only for some critique, but to hopefully provide a decent story for some people.

_ Somewhere… _

Am I dead? I clearly remember getting shot by a robber. I just couldn’t let that mother lose her little girl. I hope they’re doing okay, at least I got to do something good in my life. 

**“If it eases you, yes they are alright.”**

Woah, what’s this deep and kinda scary voice? Is it God?

**“I am a God, although not the one your kind believes in.”**

Oh, so there are multiple Gods out there? My sister would get a kick out of this.

**“Hmph, indeed she would. You are taking this surprisingly well.”**

Well I know I’m dead, I could tell after I was shot I wasn’t going to make it. I was ready for it at that point.

**“Yes, you’ve lived a very long and hard life. I admire the fact that you lived as long as you did despite your circumstances in life.”**

Heh, being complimented by a God. It actually makes me feel good, thank you. I haven’t felt this light in awhile. There’s no worries now that I’m dead, right?

**“That depends on where you want to go from here.”**

So I’m not going to heaven or hell? Is this like an isekai anime?

**“You may choose to go to the afterlife, or as you’ve deduced you may have another chance to live in a different life.”**

So I could potentially see my family? I always wondered what they would think about how my life turned out over the years. I’m also interested in living another life, one where things could be better for me.

**“You may take all the time you need young man, there’s plenty of it here.”**

A God with a sense of humor? I lucked out here. I just have to ask why me? I can make a couple of guesses why I would be given this opportunity.

**“There are many like you out there, parallel realities exist after all. It just so happened I had my eye on you when your life was ending, so now I’m giving you a chance to live again. As a bonus, because you’ve been very polite and good so far, you may fulfill one of your fantasies, and live out your life in the world of Stranger Things.”**

Wow, thank you. I’m honored, have you never had a decent conversation before?

**“I have, but it’s rare. You have been broken, but managed to put yourself back together. Despite what you may think, you are deserving of this chance.”**

I… I can’t thank you enough. I want another chance, I’m sad I won’t get to see my family but more than anything I want to experience life at its fullest. The last few years of my life was hell, my entire life riddled with hardship.

**“Very well then, you will be born one year earlier than the rest. You will also be gifted with an ability, although I won’t tell you what it is. That’s something you’ll have to figure out yourself.”**

Ok then, I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

**“I wish you luck, do with your new life what you wish.”**

I never thought something like this would happen. I won’t take this for granted, I’m determined to have a happy ending. The journey will be perilous, but no matter what I’m gonna live my life, the way I want it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this now, since the prologue was really short. If Zach (OMC) seem a little... off that's because he's meant to be like that. There are reasons for that, but you won't find out the full scope of his past until later.

_ November 6th, 1983 _

Well here we are, Hawkins, Indiana. The night Will Byers, my best friend, disappears. My life until this point has been… something else. It’s definitely been better than my previous life, although I do miss my past family. Nonetheless, I’ve done my best to live my life to the fullest. I was born as Zachary Parker. My mom and dad are both really cool, my mom stays home most of the time while my dad works full time. Did I forget to mention I have the world’s cutest baby sister ever of all time?! She is seriously the best, her name is Chloe. My family is kinda rich, so I made good money off of allowances. My parents love us very much.

I’m also a member of The Party. I wasn’t sure I was gonna go out of my way to talk to them, but I saw Troy and James picking on Will and tried to beat the crap out of them. I did pretty good in my opinion, considering it was two on one. Mike and the others had been held up, and I couldn’t stand to see the bullying. Will had always been one of my favorite characters from the show, but seeing him for real, about to be beat up, pissed me off. So that’s how I became a member of The Party. They’re pretty much my only friends, although I’m not complaining.

I found out my powers were Teleportation. I discovered this when I was ten, I wanted to find a lake I could relax at. After searching for hours, I was getting frustrated. I wanted to find a lake damnit! All of a sudden there was a very weird feeling, kinda like I was falling. Then I was at a lake, very tired afterwards. I slept like a log when I made it back home.

I had been thinking about what I should do with the “canon” story of Stranger Things. I could make little changes, no changes, hell I could derail everything today if I wanted to! At the end of the day, what I want more than anything is to have a happy ending. My current plan sadly involves letting Will be taken. I’ve been the closest with Will since I joined the Party, but for things to go smoothly, he needs to be taken. 

Then I’ll head out alone, encounter Eleven, and take her back to my house. As much as I am a Mileven shipper, I want a girlfriend. Might seem weird to plan things this far out when I’m only technically 13, but I never said I was normal. I won’t make the same mistakes Mike makes, I’ll be the best I can be for El. I’ll teleport out there, close to where she is and try to comfort her. I don’t know when I’ll introduce her to the others, but it will happen.

I was planning on just teleporting into Hawkins Lab and getting her out of there, but that raises a whole bunch of problems. I’m not gonna start making crazy changes until around the time season 3 of the show starts, with a couple of exceptions. All I can do now is get ready for bed and do the best I can to reach my happy ending.

_ November 7th, 1983 _

School is… really boring. The only reason I even somewhat like going is because I get mostly straight As and can hang out with the others. Considering I died in my mid 20s in my previous life, middle school is no challenge to me. Some of the kids have noticed Will isn’t in today, but don’t make a big thing of it. Besides not being popular, most would think he’s just having a sick day. No one knows exactly what happened last night, except for me. 

As lunch time goes into effect, I see the others at our usual table. While I’m heading over, I can see they look slightly worried. They can tell something must be up, but they have no idea what. It’s out of character for Will to skip school, he’s the second best rule follower in school, after me.

“Doesn’t it seem weird? Will was just fine last night” Mike said to the others. They looked over once I sat down next to where Will usually sat. “What’s up guys?”.

“Have you heard anything from Will?” Mike asked me, probably hoping I knew something. I do know something, but a normal person wouldn’t have this information, so I have to let him down. 

“Sorry, I haven’t heard from him at all.” I said, causing Mike to sigh and look away. I hate letting them go through this, but it’s for the best. In my past life, I had one best friend, who eventually stopped talking to me once we graduated school. He was busy living his life, while I wasted away in my mom’s house. In this life, I have four close friends who I wouldn’t trade for the world. Lying to them and letting them deal with this sucks, but it’s necessary.

While we were eating lunch, Mike suggested going and looking for Will in the woods. Eventually the others agreed, but I told them I had chores to do and my mom would know if I didn’t do them. While technically true, tonight all I had to do was the laundry.

  
  


I finally got back home, school could just drag on and on. I lived a few houses away from Mike, so that’s neat. “Hello my wonderful mother!” I called out. I could see my mom walking out of the dining room, holding little Chloe.

“Hey sweety, how was school?” my mom said. Mom is really cool, she can be pretty down to earth for someone in the 80s. 

“It was alright, kinda weird without Will.” It was true, I’d gotten so used to seeing Will every day that it was almost jarring not to see him. Knowing he’s in the Upside Down, scared and alone, makes me depressed. I never would’ve foreseen me becoming Will’s best friend, it just kind of happened. Once he’s out of there, I’m going to do my best for him, I won’t treat him any differently.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up soon, he’s a good boy.” Mom said almost matter of factly. Hawkins is usually quiet, with no drama. For someone to die or disappear is almost laughable.

“Do you need me to watch Chloe for a little bit?” I asked my mom, wanting to spend time with my sister but also wanting to lighten the burden of being a full time mom.

“Sure Zach, thank you. I just need to do some more dishes for dinner tonight.” Mom handed Chloe to me and off she went, super mom. She definitely does more than my past life mom, although their circumstances are different. Things were different in my previous life.

As I sat down on the couch, Chloe started baby babbling to me. “Aww hey buddy, how you doing?” I spoke to her in baby talk, I just love cute things, always have in both lives. Whether it be animals or babies, cute things are awesome. I sat with Chloe for a few hours, watching as my dad came home from work. Dad usually works out of town, but now he’s home. He has his own super awesome company, so he’s well off. He just goes to meetings and to oversee things every now and then.

As dinner ended I asked my mom if I could hang out in the basement. She of course agreed, not knowing I would be sneaking out and bringing a telekinetic girl home with the government after her. It sounds more crazy when put that way, but still technically true. 

Okay, so the plan is to teleport near El. I’ll walk around, find her, take her home, give her clothes, talk to her for a bit, then it’s off to bed to start the next day. Seems simple, hopefully I don’t screw it up.  _ Something bad has a high probability of happening.  _ Shut up, things will be fine.

As I prepare myself, I walk up to a full length mirror and admire myself. I couldn’t look anymore different from my past self. Dirty blond hair, blue gray eyes. I’m only thirteen, but I’m definitely more fit than I was at that age  _ Before _ .

_ Later… _

Rain. I have a love/hate relationship with rain. Most of the time I like it, because I’m inside reading or writing something. When I’m outside trying to find someone, it fucking sucks. God it’s so annoying, where the hell is El?! Am I too late? Did Mike and the others find her before me?  _ Told you something would happen. _ Shut up! Fuck off, there’s still hope. Just as my frustration was starting to boil, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I whirled around and shone my flashlight at a scared and soaking wet Eleven. This is it, it all begins here at this very moment.

“Hey, are you okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, let me know what you thought or if you spot any mistakes. I hope to better myself, so feel free to critique me. I don't have anything else written so it might take awhile to post another chapter. My life has been pretty hectic, but I do want to finish this story. Also Before in italics means the past life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Presto! Got another chapter out. My brain was all like "haha you suck" and I was like "Oh yeah? BAM!". In case you couldn't tell, I'm tired. Life just keeps throwing more curve balls at me, but I'm still kicking and fighting. There'll be more notes at the bottom, hope you enjoy the chapter.

_ November 7th, 1983 _

Okay, so far so good. El is currently in the bathroom changing into dry clothes, so I have a minute or so to think about what’s to come. Nothing too important happens tomorrow, El will see a photo of Will, recognize him, and tell me he’s hiding. Wednesday is when things start picking up, but things should play out mostly the same.

My basement is definitely better than Mike’s, so there’s more room down here for El. Nobody really comes down here anyway, it’s sorta been designated as my area of the house. The fort is a little bigger than Mike’s, so El will have more room. I hear El exit the bathroom so I guide her to the fort.

“I tried to make it as comfortable as possible, but it’s not like I could get a bed.” I giggle nervously. I think everything is starting to hit me now, this is really happening. I’m going to face off against government agents and an alien monster. For all the crap I dealt with in my past life, I’ve never had to deal with something like this.

“So uh, what’s your name?” I asked, even though I already know. El looks at me intensely before lifting her sleeve and showing me her tattoo, what amounts to a brand. 

“Eleven? Is-is that your name or something?” I stutter, still thinking about things to come but trying to focus on the here and now. She nods her head.

“Okay, well my name is Zach. That’s short for Zachary. How about we call you El? Short for Eleven?” Honestly I know her birth name is Jane, but El seems to fit better. It represents who she is now, who she’ll become in the future. El nods her head again, although I notice the storm is scaring her.

“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna get you something.” I hurry to one corner of the basement, where I keep some of my stuffed animals. I grab one of my bears, Jackie, and head back over to El.

“Okay, this is Jackie. She helps calm me down when I’m scared, but you can have her for the night.” I haven’t really slept with any of my stuffed animals for years now, but I figure she might like cuddling with one. I remember she had a stuffed lion back at the lab, so hopefully this helps her sleep.

She grabs the bear, looking down at it. She eventually hugs it close to herself and gets ready for bed. “Alright, night El.” I whisper as I start closing the flap.

“Night Zach.” El slightly smiles as she says this, making me feel good about giving her Jackie to sleep with. I smile back as I head upstairs to get myself ready for bed.

A lot of things are going to happen tomorrow, showing El around my house, “discovering” her powers, showing her my own, inviting the Party over for introductions, and beginning Operation: Find Will. Hopefully I can keep things going smoothly.

_ November 8th, 1983 _

After getting up in the morning, I head downstairs to have breakfast with mom and Chloe. Dad is out of town for the next two weeks on business. I make sure to stuff my pockets with a couple of Eggos, then tell mom I’m heading downstairs to have some me time.

Approaching the fort, I lift the flap up to see El fiddling with my supercom. “Hey, you found my supercom. I use it to talk to my friends, mainly Mike since he lives the closest to me.” She stares at me, so I bring out the Eggos. “Got you some breakfast.” She starts to eat them, they end up being her favorite food later on.

“So I figure we can tell my mom, see if she can help us find your home or something okay?” I ask even though I know what her answer will be. “No.” Saw that coming a mile away, feigning ignorance and confusion is seriously hard.

“Are you in trouble? Who are you in trouble with?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Bad.” It’s been awhile since I’ve watched the show, but it’s still a little weird how limited her vocabulary is. We can work on that later though, it’s not her fault those bastards only saw her as an experiment.

“Bad people? Do they want to hurt you?” Just thinking about all the things she had to go through pisses me off. I wish I could wrap my hands around Brenner’s throat _ and feel his windpipe breaking beneath me. _ Okay gotta calm down, don’t want to scare El.

El makes finger guns, pointing at her head. Then she points them at me, asking if I understand. I understand plenty, I’m not letting those assholes hurt anyone ever again.

“Zach let’s go! Don’t want to be late!” Damn, I almost forgot about school. Luckily mom is taking Chloe out for a playdate, so I can get back home once she leaves.

“Coming! Okay stay here and don’t leave alright? I’ll be right back.” I assure her before heading upstairs and biking out of sight so mom thinks I went to school.

Later as I’m showing El around the house, Rocky my German Shepherd comes running down from my room. “Rocky! How’s it going buddy?!” I excitedly greet him. He’s been my best buddy since we got him 3 years ago. I look to see El is getting scared, so I do my best to reassure her.

“Hey it’s okay, he won’t hurt you.” Rocky finally notices her and goes over to see who this new person is. Rocky has always been good with people, good people anyway. “Try petting him, he’ll like it,” I suggest, hoping she’ll come to like him.

El finally starts petting him, Rocky licks her hand almost instantly causing her to laugh in surprise. I knew Rocky would like her, it might be good for El to have an animal companion.

“Yeah, he’s a good boy. He’s been my little buddy ever since I got him” I sit on the floor with them, watching El interact with Rocky. It’s kinda surprising how well they’re getting along, though I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I’m gonna go get some water, if he gets too excited just say down.” So far the day’s been going smoothly, although later is when things get interesting. Maybe later when she’s living with Hopper, we can get her a pet of some sort.

As we’re chilling in my room, I wonder what the others are thinking. It’s rare for me to miss a school day. El starts to wander as I cuddle with Rocky. I’m surprised she could get away from him with how much he likes her. I can tell she’s finally relaxed around him now. I notice El is staring at a picture of the Party, probably Will specifically. I still don’t know how she even knows about him since to my knowledge at least, they’ve never met.

“That’s a picture of when me and my friends won a science fair.” I walk over to see her staring strangely at the picture, then she points to Will with a shaky finger. At this point I’m going to have to call the rest of the Party, although I’m seriously debating on going through with it or not. Lucas is gonna be an annoyance around El, I don’t know how Mike will react considering he doesn’t even know she exists yet. Hopefully he’ll be a little more open to her.

I check my watch to see it’s 3:00, so school should be out soon. Mom will be out with Chloe until 4:30, so I’ve got some time. I’m honestly pretty nervous, I don’t know if I have what it takes to protect everyone, but I’m going to do my best.

“Okay so my friends will be getting out of school soon, so I was thinking of bringing them over here to meet you, don’t worry they’re cool.” 

“Friend? What is friend?” Geez well if that isn’t depressing I don’t know what is. I just can’t understand why anyone would do this to someone, let alone a child. To grow up as nothing more than a test subject, not knowing what friends even are…

“A friend is… someone you’re close to. Someone you tell stuff about that adults don’t know. Someone you can count on, who will be there to help you. They never break a promise.” That’s what a true friend would do anyway, before I made friends with the Party I had lost faith in friendship. Everything I dealt with in the past, stuff like that changes you. I like to think I’ve gotten better though.

“Promise?” “It means something that you can’t break, ever. It’s super important for friends.” How many promises did I break  _ Before _ ? How many people did I hurt? Things will be different this time, I’m better than I was. I’ll do anything for my family, my friends.

_ Anything... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, this was a hard chapter to write. I started worrying that it wouldn't be any good, but then I thought "Does it matter?" At the end of the day, writing helps me, if I want to post my story then I'll post it. It would be cool if people liked it, but not the end of the world if nobody does. There's billions of people on the internet, I'm sure someone out there is as crazy as I am. I am planning on writing another story after this is all done, no OCs so look forward to that I guess. Hopefully ya enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading. If you for some reason like this prologue of sorts and have something to say about it, leave a comment. I'm hoping to improve my writing, so don't be afraid to give constructive criticism. Also think of this as a prologue of sorts.


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